Plainsboro T-49, 2017 Kenworth T-800/Sutphen 1500/3500. It was sold by Blaze Emergency Equipment.

APPARATUS OF THE MONTH

By John M. Malecky June, 2018

SOME RIGS FROM BERGEN AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIESABSOLUTE MARKS 35 YEARS

This month will feature some vehicles from Bergen and Middlesex Counties. Starting with Bergen County we want to mention Saddle River, which is a department that has undergone some transition. When the Saddle River Valley Rescue Squad ceased to exist, Saddle River (one of the towns which the squad covered), was forced to take up slack for themselves. It resulted in them purchasing a demo Freightliner/EVI rescue truck with a 20-foot non-walk-in body, Will Burt Night scan and a 25-kw generator. Another part of their transition was the purchase of their first aerial device. This is a Spartan ER quint with a large water tank (650-gallons) and a 103-foot ladder. It has a 2000-GPM pump and a 10-kw generator. I do not know if it is run as a first-out unit, but it could certainly qualify. Both trucks were delivered in 2017 and sold by Campbell Supply Co., LLC. The rescue was featured in an earlier column.

As we go up the mountain, we come to Upper Saddle River who placed in service a KME with Predator Severs Service chassis with 1750-GPM pump, 3000-gallon water tank and 6-kw generator, sold by First Priority Emergency Vehicles. I remember a neat GMC tile cab/Tasc pumper they had back in the 60’s. Garfield Co. 3 is next with a 2017 Ferrara Igniter MVP with a 2000-GPM pump, 750-gallon water tank and 10-kw generator, sold by Firefighter 1. The Boro of Wood-Ridge rounds out our Bergen County review with a KME Predator pumper with a 2000-GPM pump and 750-gallon water tank, also sold by First Priority Emergency Vehicles.

Now for the three rigs from Middlesex County. One is from North Brunswick Township’s Fire Company 2 (Maple Meade), and is a 2017 Seagrave Apollo 105-foot rear-mount platform quint. This is the third generation of rear-mount platforms for them. The last one was a 1993 Seagrave 105-foot Apollo and the first one was a 1977 Seagrave/CFA/LTI 85-foot quint that the chief says they bought second hand from the East St. Louis, IL Fire Department. It was white-over-yellow and repainted white-over-red after they took possession. The yellow color indicates it could have been assigned to one of the airports.

CFA (Clintonville Fire Apparatus) was a small company located in the same town as Seagrave. They at times used Seagrave cabs and chassis, but their plate, “CFA”, was usually on the body by the wheel wells. Seagrave had not yet introduced the Apollo when their first platform was placed in service. Campbell Supply Co., LLC sold the 1993 platform and Emergency Equipment Sales & Services sold their newest one. Throughout all of these years, they maintained a 1972 Ford F Sponco aerial with a Cherefko body as a first piece originally, and then a backup. Although now considered their antique, it is still capable of being used.

The next is an impressive looking Pierce Velocity pumper, sold by Fire & Safety Services to the Monmouth Junction Fire Company in South Brunswick Township. It is housed at their main station, which is so elaborate that I refer to it as their “Taj Mahal". This third vehicle is operated by Plainsboro and is a Sutphen pumper/tanker, sold by Blaze Emergency Equipment on a Kenworth T-800 chassis. It has a Cummins FXK, 505-hp diesel engine, which is a model I have not heard of, but the paperwork on the vehicle bears it out.

In dealer news in April, Absolute Fire Protection marked their 35th anniversary selling E-ONE fire apparatus. Also, Defender Emergency Equipment has opened an ambulance sales division and will be the sole source for both Medix and Osage ambulances in the state. (See related article.)

Emergency Equipment Sales & Service reports on three Seagrave deliveries. The first is Wallington in Bergen County, which we briefly reported on recently, but have received additional information on. To recap, it is an Attacker HD custom pumper with a Cummins 500-hp diesel engine, Attacker HD split tile stainless steel cab with 14-inch raised roof, Waterous 200-GPM CMU pump, Elkhart foam system, stainless steel body, stainless steel doors, Onan 8-kw hydraulic generator, FRC Spectra LED scene lighting, low hose bed in rear with discharges, and a 500-gallon L-T water tank.

VCI Ambulances is now part of our dealer circuit and reports the following: Delivery of a VCI remount of an AEV Type III ambulance onto a 2018 Ford E-350 chassis to MONOC. MONOC (Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corporation) provides multiple services throughout our state to over 2.8 million residents on the north, central and southern shores. Other deliveries include three Horton 553 Type III ambulances on Ford E-450 chassis (two to the Voorhees FD in Camden County, and one to the Beach Haven FAS in Ocean County).